I.G. Patel

I.G. Patel ran the Reserve Bank of India, then went on to lead a top British university. He warned the government that a major 1978 demonetisation wouldn’t work. He was right.

From RBI to the LSE

IndEco0169

Dec 1977

Becomes 14th RBI Governor

Serves until September 1982

1978

Warns Against Demonetisation

Later reversed on the ₹1,000 note

1984–90

Directs the LSE

First Indian to head a UK university

1991

Padma Vibhushan

Plus an honorary British KBE

Central banker, then university head: a rare career arc from RBI Governor straight to leading one of the world’s top universities.

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Timeline

• 11 November 1924: Born in Vadodara, Gujarat.
• 1954–1967: Serves as an economic advisor in the Ministry of Finance.
• 1972–1977: Serves as Deputy Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• 1 December 1977 – 15 September 1982: Serves as the 14th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• 1982–1984: Leads the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
• 1984–1990: Serves as the 9th Director of the London School of Economics (LSE).
• 1991: Receives the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award.
• 17 July 2005: Dies in New York City, aged 80.

Must Know

• I.G. Patel was the 14th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, serving from December 1977 to September 1982.
• He later served as the Director of the London School of Economics, from 1984 to 1990. He was the first person of Indian origin to head a UK higher-education institution.
• During his RBI tenure, the government passed the High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, 1978, demonetising the ₹1,000, ₹5,000, and ₹10,000 notes.
• Patel was skeptical of the 1978 demonetisation. He wrote that assuming black money was simply “stashed away under mattresses or suitcases” was naive.
• He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1991, and an honorary British knighthood (KBE) shortly after leaving LSE.

Good to Know

• Patel studied economics at the University of Bombay. He then earned a doctorate from King’s College, Cambridge, under Austin Robinson, a close aide of John Maynard Keynes.
• Before becoming RBI Governor, he served as Deputy Administrator of the UNDP, from 1972 to 1977.
• Between his RBI and LSE roles, he led the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, from 1982 to 1984.
• Over his career, he worked closely with four Indian Prime Ministers: Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, and Morarji Desai.
• He authored Glimpses of Indian Economic Policy: An Insider’s View, published in 2002. An LSE professorship, the I.G. Patel Chair in Economics, was later created in his honour.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. I.G. Patel served as which numbered Governor of the Reserve Bank of India?

11th

18th

14th

21st

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Great to Know

• His RBI governorship connects to the broader story of Indian monetary policy. See Economy0018 — Central Banking for how the RBI’s role fits into that wider system.
• See IndEco0170 — L.K. Jha, RBI’s 8th Governor, whose own tenure ended a decade before Patel’s began.
• His skepticism about the 1978 demonetisation later proved well-founded. The government had to reintroduce the ₹1,000 note.
• Patel’s career shows an unusually rare pattern. He was a top Indian civil servant and central banker, who then led one of the world’s most prestigious universities. That reverses the more typical path, of academic turned policymaker.